Lortels give nod toward B’way fare

'Urinetown,' 'Metamorphoses' take prizes, eye Tonys

NEW YORK — The League of Off Broadway Theaters & Producers awarded “Urinetown” and “Metamorphoses” its Lucille Lortel Awards for outstanding musical and play, respectively. Mary Zimmerman, author and director of “Metamorphoses,” was named outstanding helmer.

After successful stints Off Broadway, both “Urinetown” and “Metamorphoses” transferred to Broadway theaters during the 2001-02 season. In its likely Tony Awards best-tuner race, “Urinetown” can expect to be up against “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Mamma Mia!”

“Metamorphoses” presents a more interesting case on its road from the Lortels to the Tonys. Its major competition uptown would appear to be Edward Albee’s “The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?,” which had its world premiere on Broadway, and Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog,” which opened last summer at the Public Theater, a not-for-profit venue under the purview of the Off Broadway League.

No Lortels for ‘Topdog’

“Topdog” transferred to Broadway this spring and promptly won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for drama, but failed to nab a Lortel nom for either its playwright or George C. Wolfe, its director. “Topdog” received just one Lortel nomination, for thesp Jeffrey Wright. The outstanding actor award, however, went to Reg Rogers, star of Richard Greenberg’s “The Dazzle” at the Roundabout’s Gramercy Theater.